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271. A certain brother in Scete called one of his companions to come to him in his cell to wash his feet, and he did not go; and twice and thrice he said, “Come to [my] cell, and wash thy feet,” and he went not. And at length the brother went to him, and made excuses to him, and entreated him to go with him, and he rose up and went; and the brother said unto him, “How is it that thou didst not come when I entreated thee so often to do so?” And he answered and said unto him, “Whilst thou wast speaking my will would not consent to my coming, but when I saw that thou wast doing the work of monks, that is to say, repenting, then I rejoiced and came.”

272. On one occasion when the old man Zeno was walking in Palestine, he became weary, and he sat down by the side of a cucumber bed to eat; and his thought said to him, “Take a cucumber and eat, for of what value is one cucumber?” And he answered and said to his thought, “Those who steal go to torment; try thy soul, then, and see if it be able to endure the torment.” And he crucified himself in the heat for five days, and having tortured himself he said unto his thought, “I cannot endure that torment; how then can the man who cannot do this steal and eat?”

273. They say that on one occasion, when it was time for Abbâ Poemen to go to the congregation for the service, he sat down for about one hour examining and passing judgement upon his thoughts, and that at the end of this time he went forth.

274. They say that a certain old man dwelt by himself in silence, and that a son of the world used to minister unto him continually; and it happened that the son of that son of the world fell sick, and his father entreated the old man to go with him to his house and to pray over him, and, when he had entreated him to do so often, the old man went forth and departed with him. And the man went before him and entered the village, and he said unto the people thereof, “Come forth to meet the monk”; now when the old man saw the people from afar off, and perceived that they had come forth to meet him carrying lanterns, straightway he stripped off his garments, and dipped them in the river, and he began to wash them, being naked. And when the man who ministered unto him saw [this], he was ashamed, and he entreated the people of the village, saying, “Get ye back, for the old man hath certainly gone mad”; then he approached the old man, and said unto him, “Father, what is this which thou hast done? For all the people are saying that the old man hath a devil.” And the old man said, “This is what I wished to hear.”

275. Paesius on one occasion had strife with the brother who